St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1887-02-19
THE MOON sTo3i.
History q what Nay be Called the Mos
Gigantic Hoax Of the Ccatury.

ssse s"00ss ~ O.s''
History q what Nay be Called the Mns
Gigantic Hoax Of the Ccn,ucy.
The moon story. which ;ap,arc.l in
the fall of 1885 i'm the columns of the
New York Stm. was the mos. gigantic
newspaper hoax ever pcrpctra,ed. II
was known that Sir John Her>chcl had
gone to the Cape of Good Hope. to IN Ike
observations with new instruments OF
extraordinary power. Then there APP
peared series Of papers describing
what Sir John had discovered. They
purported to be copied from the pages
Of supplement to the Elinburg (Scot-
land) Journal Of Science, exclusive cop
les Of which had been received at the
Sun Office.
1t was known that the atmosphere OF
the Cape of Good Hope is unequaled
for purity, and Of course has CORE
spending facility Of celestial observa-
ton, and when it was stated. what no
body among us could undertake to
deny. especially rs it was said to be
confirmed by actual observation. that
the great object glass of the astrOno-
mer's chief telegraph was lens Of
seven tons i. weight. no great wonder
was felt if ths results from its use were
unexampled. Il was said. then, in the
alleged report of the ''great discov-
cries" that SD great was the magnify
ing power of this instrument $4,000
time>) that it could impart to objects at
the distance Of the moon Il degree of
visibility equal to that enjoyed by OBJ
jects on our earth not more than one hun
dred yards of. This put it within St.
Johns power to view, not only the
larger class Of natural objects i'm the
moon, but TO see with ease the dwell
ings, animals. and even persons Of the
Lunarians, which he accordingly de.
scribed.
The descriptions Of Luna scenery al,
believed. There was SD much verisim-
ilitude. such shrcwd and apparently
accurate scientific phraseology. that
scientists found it no easy task why
they should not give the story credence.
But when there came descriptions Of the
web-wings appended to the favorite i'm
habitants of our satellite. constituting
them in appearance a sort Of man-bat.
strong scepticism of the whole story
was manifested. Edgar Allan Poe. the
poet. speaking Of the immense success
IF the ''mOOn hoax" states .'that not
one person in ten discredited il, and
(strangcst point Of ally the doubters
were chiefly those who doubted without
being able to say why-the ignorant,
those uniformed in astronomy. people
who who would not believe because the
thing was SO novel. SO entirely out OF
the usual way A grave professor Of
in a Virginia college told
me seriously that he had no doubt Of
the truth Of the whole affair! The hoax
was circulated to an immense extent:
was translated into various languages.
and was. upon the whole. decidedly the
greatest hit in the way Of sensation, OF
popular sensation, ever made
by any similar fiction either i'm America
or Europe"
The sceptics thought that they woulo
discover the truth or fiction of the mys-
tcrious story by the effect it would pro-
luce in Europe, but the event was al
first by no means SO distinct for them
Or SO unfavorable to the credit Of the
story as might have been supposed. II
was read all over Europe with as keen
an interest rs it had been here, and was
made the subject of a certain kind Of
even in the French Acad6A,y
II Sciences. when the great Arago at !
ength took it upon himself, chiefly. as
ne said. out of respect to the name and
honor Of his friend. Hcrschel. to put an
upon it Herschel himself
vas first made acquainted with the lib
.rty that had been taken with his name
~ its being sent him amongst a bundle
# miscellaneous New York newspapers.
'bligingly furnished him by Caleb
Weeks. who had gone out from the
United States to the Cape for lot of
.iraffes and other African animals for
lis menayerie. He saw Immediately.
4 course, the nature of the thing. treat
ng it good-naturedly.
James Gordon Bennett, of the New
FORK Herald was the first to charge the
,un with the fabrication of a hoax, and
he inventor Of the story, who was edi-
Or Of the paper, had to be very adroit |
n dealing with the situation in such a
manner rs to conduct the concentrated
Indignation and disappointment Of the
ublic safely away. True or false. it
increased the circulation
I the Sun. but Mr. Richard Adam Locke,
n Englishman. who was the author of the |
OAK. never wrote any thing afterwards
'hich created much sensation. 1t took
long time to convince the public that
had been deceived, and it was said
nat some spinsters at Springfield. |
lass. took the story in such good earn
st that they commenced the establish
,ent of missionary society for the con-
ersion of the Lunarians.-Ben: Rerlcy
bore. in Boston Budget.
TEA AS A BEVERAGE ~
Chlnese Gentleman Tells How It should
Re- RReuaRpd and SNrvoA.